Rivers and Roads
by a starr in photo
Summary: They all had secrets, but this? Parker never would have suspected. Eliot/Parker


Parker was curious by nature. She was well suited to being a thief, flexible, quiet and nosy. She couldn't and didn't want to keep out of anything. So when she had finally decided that the team was her family, when she finally decided they were worth keeping around, she had decided to investigate. Hardison's stuff hadn't been too interesting, and she was certain that most of his assets were stored away on computers and stuff, all electronic and boring and unstealable.

His house wasn't very interesting; too many dolls and stupid picture books, and Parker couldn't help but roll her eyes as she looked over it all. People thought she was weird, but she wasn't one to keep around tiny plastic figures. Nate's was even more boring. Sure he liked art and stuff, but he really had awful taste for the things he actually kept around, and none of it was of any value. Parker had swept the place in a matter of moments, completely unsatisfied.

Sophie's was much, much more interesting, an expensive row house, every floor was adorn with interesting paintings, and sculpture, and she didn't keep many sparkly jewels around, which were Parker's favorite besides cash, but Parker found and cracked the safe in seconds. She restrained herself though, trying to understand what the woman had taught her about personal property. Sophie was a friend, and the things she had were special things, so Parker was supposed to leave them alone.

But she couldn't help but slip a tiny sparkly diamond into her pocket. It was an impulse, compulsion even. The thief refused to leave empty handed.

But Eliot? Eliot was different. It wasn't quite that Parker was afraid of the hitter, because she wasn't. And she knew that his security system was sure to be the weakest, because he needed it the least. Not because he had the least to protect, but simply because he was better, more fool proof than any electronic alarm system. Eliot though, despite all of the crazy talk he called her out on, they were very much the same. She wasn't sure if he knew that yet, maybe not, but Parker recognized it. She understood how important his privacy was, because she felt the same.

She respected him. It was three years later when she finally caved and broke in. And yeah, she knew he would be angry, and that she was invading his privacy, but they had kissed, and not fake kissed like she did with Hardison for cons. This was different, real, and she figured that gave her some sort of excuse.

It was cute, she decided, a little house just outside of downtown, and it was quite Eliot, dark brown leather, burgundy accents, and lots of navy blue. He wasn't joking when he said he didn't have a TV and Parker decided that the elegant but somehow still masculine sofa was the most comfortable one she'd ever laid on, and it was certainly the perfect size for two people to cuddle on.

His kitchen was not unsuspected, dark blue granite countertops, state of the art appliances, and multiple knife blocks. Everything was stuffed full of fresh produce, which meant he had just gone grocery shopping, because he preferred to purchase food right before he cooked it. Parker wasn't quite sure when she had picked up on that tidbit of information. She took an apple; a green one and bit into it as she moved on to explore the rest of the house.

She wasn't surprised by the gym in the basement, complete with mats and punching bags, but she hadn't expected the full size trampoline, and got distracted for a while, throwing flips and aerials until she remembered that she was supposed to be exploring. His bedroom was plain, with dark browns and burgundy again, but she couldn't help but smirk as she noted the heavy four poster bed in the middle of the room.

His bathroom was also boring, the medicine cabinet only filled with vitamins and over the counter pain killers. But there was a little mini fridge stuffed full of frozen corn and peas. Parker couldn't figure out if it was funny or sad, but she made a mental note to pay more attention next time he was injured.

She frowned as she walked down the hallway, noting a door she hadn't opened, and she pushed it in. The light purple, white accented room had been the last thing she expected, and wordlessly she stepped inside. There was a small twin bed, with a purple butterfly quilt, and a small white wardrobe and a little matching desk and vanity. And Parker was reminded of one foster family she had lived with. One with a biological daughter with a room just like this and she couldn't help but remember the searing jealousy she had felt as she was stuffed into a plain white room with two other boys and a girl.

"Parker!" The growl snapped her out of her memories, and she spun around. "What the hell're you doing?" Eliot was standing in the doorway, doing that angry thing with his eyes that almost made Parker scared of him. Only this time she kind of was scared. Clearly there was something that Eliot didn't want them to know.

"Sorry," was her immediate response, and they both seemed startled by it. Eliot because she seemed sincere, Parker because she meant it.

"What are you doing?" He repeated in that husky growl that usually made Parker weak at the knees, but now just made her stomach churn and her mouth just gaped open. She didn't know what to say.

"I-I was curious, I've broken into everybody else's homes, not yours"

"Curiosity killed the cat, Parker." It wasn't just anger in his gaze, he was upset and her stomach clenched with guilt.

"Satisfaction brought it back?" she responded meekly, and when a small grin broke across his face, she knew she hadn't screwed up things beyond repair. "What is this?" She had thought she knew Eliot, at least better than anyone else on the team. But maybe somebody knew, Hardison could find out anything, after all. Eliot wordlessly moved into the room and picked up a photo frame off of the bookshelf, and he held it out to the thief.

She took it gingerly, eyes widening as she looked at the photo, Eliot- Parker could tell by his hair that it was from last year- but the surprise was the young girl in the photo with long brown hair and green eyes and Parker guessed that the girl was maybe five, but no older. "Who is this?"

Eliot sighed softly, "That's Kinnaret," Parker raised an eyebrow waiting impatiently for further explanation. "She's my daughter." He finally explained.

"You're not married." Parker's immediate response took Eliot by surprise. That was the last thing he had expected to tumble out of the blonde's mouth.

"What? No, I'm not," he clarified with a frown, unsure what she was trying to get at.

"People get married and have kids, or have kids and get married, I thought that was how it worked," she frowned too, and Eliot realized he shouldn't have been as surprised as he was. Parker had very limited social experiences, and considering most had to do with foster families, that made some sort of twisted sense that she didn't understand.

"That's usually how it works," Eliot confirmed, and Parker looked back down at the photo. "But not always, not in this case."

"Who is she?" Parker asked, still looking at the photo, and Eliot didn't need to ask for clarification. Considering the situation they had found themselves in it was only understandable that she was curious about the woman he had a child with. Parker wasn't normal in the slightest, but even she could manage to understand the implications of having a child with someone.

"Her name's Zahavah. We met in Israel when I was working on a retrieval job seven years ago." Eliot explained, "we were both in the same prison, broke out together and I helped her flee to the US."

"Did you love her?" Parker asked quietly, just full of surprises tonight apparently. "Do you?" She corrected her phrasing.

"No. And I never thought I did. We tried to make something work, but it wasn't there, and Kinnaret came and we both love her, but we knew it wasn't going to happen with us. We set her up in Austin, 'cause my Momma and sister are there. She comes and stays with me anytime we have breaks," Eliot slid the photo from the thief's hands, and Parker couldn't help but notice the way his eyes softened as he looked at it before replacing it on the shelf.

"Why Austin?" Parker frowned, "why not where you are?" She wasn't always good at that whole empathy thing, but it was different when it came to children, and she knew if she were a little girl, she'd want her dad around. As it was, Parker didn't have a father at all, so at least the girl was lucky in that respect.

"I wanted to keep them away from work. It's all violence, and Zahavah has seen enough of that, and there's no way I'm letting kina anywhere near this. Plus before Leverage I moved around too much, I've got my Momma and sis looking after them, and my nephew an' Kinna get along great. It works for now," Eliot replied, and it didn't take Sophie to tell that he wasn't pleased with the situation.

"Why did you come back then?" Parker was just full of questions, "that payout from the first job we did, you'd have been set for life." Eliot corralled her gently out of the room.

"You guys need me too, Nate needed me, and we're doing good here. It won't last, not forever, and we Skype all the time so it's not so bad," Eliot forced a little smile. "Don't tell Hardison I can use Skype though," he growled as an afterthought. He could only imagine the hacker trying to spy on his calls.

"I think you'd make a really good dad," Parker replied with a smile before flitting away. Eliot was mostly glad; he didn't know how to respond to that anyway.

* * *

><p>Weeks passed with no further mention of his daughter, and Eliot was beginning to think he had imagined the exchange. Maybe his subconscious was trying to tell him that he was sick of carrying around a secret from the team Even Kinnaret had noticed that he was a little off during their nightly Skype date, and the startlingly perceptive six year old had definitely not been convinced as he attempted to brush it off.<p>

"Papa, I don't like it when you lie to me," she pouted, face framed by the edges of the computer screen. Eliot grimaced. It was useful; the girl was like a tiny lie detector. He was fairly certain that even Sophie wouldn't be able to pull a fast one on her. It comforted him knowing that it would be more difficult for boys to take advantage of his baby girl when it became an issue, but in the present, it was an irritating complication.

"Darlin' we talked about this, you've just gotta trust me, alright?" He raised an eyebrow though he couldn't rid his face of the grin that always appeared when taking to her. The girl nodded. "Alright I think it's time for bed then. P-jays on?" He chuckled as she displayed her new ducky pajamas that he had sent her. "Good now brush your teeth and go to bed," he instructed sternly. "No begging Momma for a bedtime story, she knows you already got one."

"Alright Papa. Ani ohevet ot'cha," she smiled widely at him.

"You've been practicing your Hebrew?" she nodded. "Good girl, I love you too. Goodnight."

"Good night!" She beamed and the connection closed.

"Hey Eliot." He hadn't expected to turn around and find the thief sitting on the bed, but then again, he also expected to not expect her visits.

"The hell, Parker?" Eliot growled. "Can't you use the door? Or knock or something?"

"Surprises are more fun," she shrugged.

Eliot resisted the urge to laugh, unwilling to encourage the intruder. "What are you doing here?" He wasn't sure he actually wanted the answer to that question, but felt the need to ask anyway.

"I think we should talk. I mean we are talking, well I'm talking and you're listening, but I talked to Sophie earlier and we are supposed to talk about things."

"What are we supposed to talk about?" Eliot was suspicious, and worried, and he had assumed that Parker knew enough to not talk about Kinnaret, but she, he realized, might not have figured. Parker folded her legs criss cross underneath her on the bed.

"We kissed. A couple times. And not fake kisses like me and Hardison for cons sometimes. Sophie says that when that happens you're supposed to talk about it. Or else we'll end up like Nate and Sophie and that's just sad and weird so I think we should talk." Parker blabbered on and on before Eliot placed a hand over her mouth.

"Okay. We can talk about it. What would you like to say about it?" Eliot finally interrupted.

"Why did it happen? Will it happen again? What did you mean by it?" It came out as more like one question, unpunctuated.

"I like you," Eliot shrugged, "and since you didn't stab me with a fork, I'm assuming you like me too. What more do you want to talk about?"

"But if I like you and you like me, what does that mean for us?" she frowned, and offhandedly Eliot wondered if this was the first time she'd been in this situation. It was more than possible, hell the woman hadn't even gone to high school.

"It means exactly as much as you want it to mean," Eliot replied simply.

"I want it to mean you don't kiss other women, only me." Parker decided after a moment of thought. "And I want it to mean you never call Nurse Gail again. And don't have sex with other women either." He had to wonder why that last part was an afterthought.

"I can do that," he agreed, not that it would be an issue anyway, since he had no intention of doing such things. "As long as you won't with any other men," Eliot had to voice his concerns, never assume with Parker, he'd finally come to learn.

"Nope, no other guys." She confirmed.

"That sounds good to me." He smiled, pressing a kiss to the lips that his hands had previously covered.

* * *

><p>Parker's surprise visits increased tenfold in frequency, but Eliot didn't mind much at all, but he did notice that she always left before, or arrived after his nightly call to Kinna. And knowing Parker as well as anyone could, he was sure it was intentional. His suspicions were confirmed two weeks after they had made whatever it was they had official. The team had just finished up a job in Western New York and Nate announced a break. A month for the team to relax and enjoy themselves and it obviously had nothing to do with the cruise brochures that Sophie had been leaving around for Nate to find. Not at all.<p>

Parker had dropped onto the couch right next to him, their thighs touching and announced quietly, so no one else could hear. "I want to meet her."

"What?" The question was out of his mouth before he could really process her request.

"Kinna, I want to meet her," Parker replied simply, and Eliot opened and closed his mouth a few times because he hadn't really stopped to consider the situation. Parker had spent four out of the five of the last few nights in his bed, and he certainly was not prepared to go for a month without seeing her. But he wasn't at all willing to miss a single moment of time he had with his daughter. And on the same token, he hadn't thought about them meeting, or explaining to his six year old that he had a girlfriend, kinda, sorta, who was more than a little crazy. And a thief.

It wasn't until he looked over at a beaming Parker that he realized he had already verbally agreed at some point during his musing.

He picked her up from the airport the next day, midafternoon, with Parker waiting back at his house so he could prepare Kinna for the crazy. "Papa!" She had flung herself into his arms, but he caught her with ease, hugging her tightly.

"How was the flight, Darlin?" He asked, picking up her suitcases as he carried her to his car, not wanting to put her down quite yet.

"Boring, but I did my math homework, Momma wants you to check it and she says that she emailed you my work." With the transient situation they had set up, both Eliot and Zahavah had decided that for the first few years at least, they could home school her respectively. Not that she needed much instruction, the little girl devoured books like her father, and she could have taught herself really.

"I can do that," he grinned, buckling her into the booster seat in the back row of his truck. "Did you like the book I sent you?"

She nodded eagerly, "It was awesome," Kinna beamed, "Papa your hair is almost as long as mine, you need a haircut." Eliot chuckled. She tried the same line every time they were together.

"I've got something I need to talk to you about before we get home," he pulled out of the airport parking lot.

"What is it?" Kinna frowned, she'd been expecting a fun filled adventure on the way home, the way they usually started their visits, not serious talk about serious things.

"Darlin," he glanced at her in the rearview mirror, wide eyed and innocent. "Remember how I told you about Parker?" He had only mentioned her in passing, but Kinna had a good memory for a six year old, so there was a change.

"The crazy bag lady?" she tilted her head to the side, waiting expectantly for him to continue and get to the important stuff.  
>"Yes, that one," he couldn't help but chuckle. "She's a good friend of mine, and she's been staying with me for a while. I thought maybe you might want to meet her," He tried to ease her in; there was no need to implicate anything more serious yet. Hell Parker and he hadn't even decided to make their situation a relationship, officially. Technically they'd only agreed they wouldn't see other people.<p>

"Is she your girlfriend?" Kinna asked innocently, and Eliot coughed loudly, caught unaware. Maybe this wouldn't be as difficult as he thought.

* * *

><p>Parker was pacing. Furiously. She'd even taken the zip line back to her hangar and retrieved Bunny, who was tucked under her arm as she wore, treads into the hardwood floor of Eliot's living room. Children liked her, she reminded herself, she taught them how to pick locks and lift from pockets, like Archie had taught her. It was fun. But what if Kinna didn't like her? She frowned and clutched Bunny closer. Kinnaret was important to Eliot, he loved her, and he only liked Parker. If kina didn't like her would Eliot change his mind? Parker gasped softly at the thought, her pacing increasing in speed. And she was so focused on her internal monologue that she didn't hear the truck pull up the driveway, or the door open, and she jumped half a mile when Eliot called her name from the door, and she dropped into the leather armchair right as Eliot and Kinna entered the room. Parker blinked, frozen in place, she had no idea what to say.<p>

"Papa," Kinna whispered, tugging on the hem of his shirt, and the hitter glanced down at her questioningly. "She's pretty."

Eliot just chuckled, "I know."

"Can I braid your hair?" Kinna asked, blinking at Parker expectantly.

"Uh, sure," she f forced a smile, not because there was anything wrong with the situation, but because her mind was still focused on what would happen if Kinna didn't like her. The six year old pulled off her jacket and climbed up onto the chair, pushing Parker's shoulder so she'd turn around, and neither noticed Eliot's grin as he picked up her suitcases and brought them into her room. A little time alone, and he was sure they'd work things out.

"Papa says you're crazy," Kinna stated matter of factly, collecting the thief's blond locks in her hands. "

"He tells me that too, all the time," Parker laughed kind of awkwardly but the girl didn't seem to notice.

"I don't think you're crazy. Crazy people have Alert Einstein hair and weird tongues and stuff, and you don't." It was stated as fact.

"Thank you…" Parker wasn't sure how the respond.

"Don't tell Papa, but my mom said you steal things." Parker froze, her mind reeling. She had no idea how much the girl knew about their work, and if Kinna's mother had said so then clearly Eliot had talked about her, and Parker didn't know what to think of that, and she really wished that Sophie wasn't in the Caribbean. "Will you teach me?" She pulled a small hair tie around the messy braid she had completed. Parker grinned. She could do that. Certainly. She pulled her lock pick set out of the coffee table drawer along with a padlock.

"Sure, we start with picking locks; it's one of the most important parts of stealing things. Later if you want I can show you how to pick pockets. Your Papa is fun to practice on." She grinned widely, and handed the lock to Kinna who flopped down on the seat cushion wedged between Parker and the edge.

"No no no, Parker, no," Eliot grimaced as he returned to the room, and she was immediately suspicious that the hitter had been spying on them. "You are not teaching my daughter to be a thief."

They both blinked up at him with identical innocent expressions and Eliot growled. "Kin, why do you want to be a thief?" She furrowed her brow.

"I don't. I want to learn how, so I can take back my teddy bear because Bobby Howard took it. When I go back to Texas. He stole it from me first so that's not bad, right?" Eliot looked as relieved as Parker looked disappointed.

"Fine," He sighed, sitting on the arm of the chair they were in. "But you have to promise that you won't steal anything that belongs to someone else." He was a bit concerned by their positively gleeful looks.

* * *

><p>The month passed a little too quickly for all parties involved. They went rock climbing a few times, though Parker would have preferred a sky scraper. Kinna could pick a master lock padlock in seven point eight seconds, and by the end of it, Eliot didn't notice when she lifted his wallet. They watched movies on Parker's relocated TV and baked cookies and cake which were always all gone by the next morning thanks to Parker's sweet tooth and unconcern for her weight. Kinna made them both read her bedtime stories, and she knew better than to question if Parker was staying the night.<p>

Parker had found Sky Zone, an indoor gym with trampolines for floors and walls and Eliot wasn't sure which of the girls enjoyed it more. Kinna showed Parker how to clothes shop effectively, not like Sophie, and Parker showed her how to stop security cameras. When it was time to send Kinnaret home, she cried and clung to the both of them, and Eliot's heart broke a little when she begged to stay longer. But he reminded her that her mother missed her, and reassured her that Parker would still be around when she visited next time, and sent her on her way. When he and Parker returned to his house, it seemed empty. And they certainly made use of their new alone time, but Eliot was surprised at how much Parker seemed to miss his daughter, and then he couldn't really help but wonder what it would be like to have a family with her. A proper family.

The thoughts only intensified when he caught his thief Skyping with his daughter secretly.

"Parker?" he propped his head up on his hand as he looked at her, drowning in the comforter on his bed.

"What?" she turned towards him, blond hair fanning out behind her.

"Have you ever considered having children?" his voice was soft, but gruff and he couldn't meet her eye. And Parker sat up, crossing her legs. She didn't know how to answer that, her wasn't sure exactly what he was asking her.

"What do you mean?" she frowned, and Eliot reached for her hand, drawing circles on her palm with his thumb.

"Have you ever thought about being a mother?" he clarified, almost whishing he hadn't asked, but it was too late for that anyway. Parker sighed softly.

"I never really thought about it. Either way. I didn't think it would be an issue, since I always figured I'd be alone," she admitted, and Eliot's stomach clenched and he sat up, facing the thief.

"You're not alone anymore," he reminded gently, and pulled her into his lap, and the thief responded immediately, curing against his chest.

"I think it would be nice to have a real family," she relented, "I've never had one of those before." He brought a hand through her hair, and silently vowed that she'd never be alone again. And not now, but maybe in the future. Eliot and Kinnaret, maybe they could give her a family.


End file.
